Windsor police are targeting minorities, but not in the way you think.

After conducting a census last year that revealed the Windsor Police Service is 86.7 per cent white, senior brass has launched a recruitment drive aimed at attracting women, minorities and others who feel they face barriers in applying. It’s part of an ongoing effort to make Windsor police ranks look more like the community they serve.

“We are trying to reflect the community we serve, without question that’s a goal,” said Chief Al Frederick. “We’re trying to go into the community where the potential applicants are and approach them in their environment so there’s not so many barriers, the intimidation of entering a police station and all that. It’s particularly important when we’re trying to recruit from diverse backgrounds that they don’t perceive those barriers to recruitment and to seeing policing as potential employment.”

The service already ran a recruitment session this week at St. Clair College, where 52 people showed up. There’s another session on Tuesday at Rose City Islamic Centre and a third session Feb. 27 at the University of Windsor’s Dillon Hall.

Recruiters want anyone who is interested to come, but they are hoping segments of the population who traditionally don’t apply to the police force will show up. A main goal with the recruitment drive is to remove barriers – whether real or perceived – that have prevented people from applying in the past.

“For females in particular we feel it’s their hesitancy to compete with male counterparts, we’ve got to reduce that,” said Frederick. “With a lot of cultures, policing is not seen as an honourable profession. It’s something that’s corrupt in other countries. So you’re trying to always break down that barrier.”

In a bid to attract more women, the service is also holding a series of sessions March 6 at the training centre on Sandwich Street. The sessions are meant to give potential candidates a taste of the Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police (PREP), which is the required physical fitness test.

Those interested will be able to run through practice sessions of the actual test. It’s a chance for people to see where their weaknesses are.

Insp. Tom Crowley, in charge of recruitment, said women often struggle with the physical testing and sometimes shy away from it when they have to do it with men.

“We’re not going to turn anybody away, but we’re encouraging all women to attend,” said Crowley. “We want them to participate in the PREP with their peers. They’re more likely to participate, women are more likely to feel more comfortable in that environment. Historically we’ve seen that women are struggling with the PREP test portion of the initial testing. That’s a really good indicator of why we’re not getting women to our door in policing.”

Windsor police, which has about 440 officers, hired seven people in January and want more people to get started on the process. It takes six to nine months.

Candidates must obtain a certificate from Applicant Testing Services, which oversees standardized testing for people seeking careers in law enforcement.

The process includes a series of tests assessing math skills, written communication and physical fitness. If you pass that, you move on to behavioural assessment and vision and hearing tests.

If you pass all of that, you can apply to the police force.

“We have to start early because it’s all in anticipation of retirements,” said Frederick. “We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve and keep people interested. Our numbers we’ve been recruiting over the last couple years have been dramatically reduced.”

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